Congressman gets GSA memo on keeping WIPP building

The member of Congress whose district includes the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has received written assurance from the General Services Administration that the lease for the DOE Carlsbad Field Office won’t be terminated.

A spokesperson for Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) said Friday the lawmaker has received written word from GSA the lease for the Skeen- -Whitlock Building, where several staff for Sandia National Laboratories are also tenants, won’t be cancelled anytime soon.

The New Mexico Congressional delegation has mobilized against the potential closure and one day earlier Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright promised by phone to keep the facility open.

“This letter shall serve as written notice of the government’s revocation of its prior notice to exercise termination rights” effective Aug. 31, 2025 according to the memo sent to Carlsbad Partners LLC.

The Vasquez spokesperson said the Carlsbad and Eddy County area is “very remote” and if the lease got cancelled there are very limited alternatives for between 200 and 300 federal people to work. The federal staff would still need office space so there would be little cost savings, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson also indicated a new long-term, multi-year lease on the building has just renewed within the past year or so.

As of Friday, the Carlsbad building was still listed online as a cost savings by the Donald Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, the spokesperson said.

Published reports earlier in the week indicated the facility’s lease had been targeted for termination by the White House Department of Government Efficiency.